Wheel of Time letter No. 2: Robert Jordan's hyperbole

(To Robert, written August 26, 2020)

I’m about 6 hours into Lord of Chaos (which is 41 hours long,) and here’s what’s happening so far:

Nynaeve is trying to find a cure for stilling using Moghedian’s powers on Siuan, Lianna and Logain. Morgase is searching for allies outside of Caemlyn when she discovers Rand has invaded her kingdom, killed Rahvin, and captured her throne. Elayne and Min are in Salidar, having a chat about how they’re both in love with Rand. Lanfear and Asmodean were reborn into different bodies*. Perrin is still in the Two Rivers and is considering going to find Rand because he can feel the pull of him from partway across the world. Faile is annoyed that she has to deal with the everyday goings on in the Two Rivers, and when Perrin said he was leaving to find Rand, she wanted to go with him but he didn’t want her to. Demondred, Graendal and the rest of the forsaken who are still alive are placing scheme on their agenda. Rand is fighting anonymous men for training because Lan has left in search of his new Aes Sedai. Masrim Taim visits Rand in Caemlyn because Rand has declared amnesty for men who can channel. Rand lets Taim teach the other men who can channel. Taim seems surprised this is the only thing Rand wants him to do. Then, Rand visits some of his generals, and there’s talk of war with Illian. Lews Therin is screaming in Rand’s head to kill everyone and burn down the world.

One interesting narrative that has seemed to pop up in this book is Rand’s view of the Aes Sedai gentling men. In “Eye of the World” it was painted as a kindness because the men eventually went insane. So gentling was seen philosophically as doing the least harm, as only the man who could wield the one power would die (eventually) rather than a bunch of people dying as a result of his power. In “Lord of Chaos,” Rand believes it to be a “culling of the population.” (Robert Jordan literally uses those words, and it was kind of disturbing.) I’m still torn on whether or not this book series has feminist leanings. I’m not sure it’s a good look for a narrative to say “men need to fight back against the women who don’t want them to use their true power.” 

I think it’s normal for our minds to want to apply the principles of fantasy as a statement on our everyday life because so many fantasy writers, from Orson Scott Card to NK Jemisin, use fantasy to impress their own views of the way things ought to be through their stories. It’s clear Robert Jordan’s military training has weighed heavily on his story, as did his personal views of gender roles. Is channeling in men a metaphor for men who are in touch with their feelings and show emotions? Is this a half-baked misogynistic metaphor about how it’s a woman’s fault that men can’t have emotions, and here’s an examination of a society in which a woman’s power has “gone too far”? Or do I simply have to accept this plot point as it is and not question it?

The Wheel of Time stans on Twitter kind of spoiled that Rand turns evil before being good again. I anticipate “Lord of Chaos” being a little darker, and I’m ready for it! But I do wish I could figure out what this book series is actually trying to say about gender roles. Also, one of the Wheel of Time stans on Twitter compared Faile to Thanos. I’m not sure what that’s supposed to mean either!

*I know this is wrong. The Forsaken that were reborn into new bodies at the beginning of the book were not Asmodean and Lanfear, but instead Aginor and Balthamel, who (I think) were killed in the first book. I found that info on Wikipedia, and tried REALLY hard not to read any spoilers inadvertently.

Wheel of Time letter No. 1: Where I ask an important question

(To Robert, written August 20, 2020)

Last night I finished Fires of Heaven and this morning I started Lord of Chaos. Here’s what’s happening:

Lanfear shows up and tries to kill Rand for sleeping with another woman. Moiraine tackles Lanfear and they both fall through the portal of a ter’angreal and everyone assumes they’re dead. Rand assembles some Aiel and they go to Caemlyn to defeat Rahvin. Meanwhile, Nynaeve encounters Moghedian in Tel’aran’rhiod and leashes her with an a’dam. They travel to Caemlyn and help Rand battle Rahvin and kill him with balefire. 

The first thing I was thinking when I read this section was when Moiraine wrote a letter to Rand before her “death.” She said she discovered three possible outcomes of an encounter with Lanfear after visiting Rhuidean. It made me think of Moiraine as Dr. Strange. And then I was thinking that Nynaeve might be She-Hulk, since she can only channel while angry. Which Marvel superheroes (or villains???) would the Wheel of Time characters be? I was thinking Lan might be Captain America and Mat could be Iron-Man. Rand might be a villain, though! He’s been conquering various territories with impunity, and Nynaeve noted at the end that his face seemed hard, cold and emotionless. 

I felt again, by the end of Fires of Heaven, that Robert Jordan has some feminist leanings, but he’s not quite there yet. Rand has a big existential crisis around killing women and sending women to war, which I think reflects more of Robert Jordan’s own military experience. One of Rand’s spear-maidens approaches him before the fight with Rahvin and says that he shouldn’t feel bad about sending women to war, and that the spear-maidens “carry his honor,” that he was dishonoring them by refusing to let them fight. I think women in the US military can be in combat roles now, but there’s always been a big debate about drafting women and allowing them to fight. Since Wheel of time is set in a theoretically matriarchal society, Rand’s reluctance to allow women to fight and refusal to fight/kill women still shows the ways the book clings to patriarchal ideas outside the narrative. Rand’s conversation with his spear-maiden shows how inextricably  linked a woman’s sense of self is with what she does for a living. More broadly, I think the narrative asks the question: Should men be gatekeepers to who a woman is? Some other story beats between Rand and the Aiel illustrate how society outside of the Aiel Waste is aggressively patriarchal. Aviendha remarks to Rand that he should be allowed to grieve Moiraine’s death, but “some wetlanders still believe men shouldn’t grieve.” It’s odd that these moments are broken up by Mat’s “Women, amirite?” incredulity. These “comedic” moments blunt the seriousness and pointedness of the questions Robert Jordan asks about masculinity and its role in society.

I’m not at all convinced Moiraine is dead. Maybe I’m being a “meta-reader” but this series was written before every author callously killed off main characters a la George RR Martin. The book spends a lot of time setting up the idea of lives being cyclical, of major players in “the pattern” dying and being born again into new lives, the way Birgitte was. My pre-guess is that Moiraine will either show up again somewhere else, or that she’ll be reborn into a new life, possibly as Faile and Perrin’s daughter. I’m kind of skeptical now that the TV series will revolve around Moiraine as much as the creators say it will. It could just be that Rosamund Pike was the biggest name they could cast, and so they’re framing the series around her.

I started “Lord of Chaos” this morning, and I’m still pretty set on finishing the series. The biggest annoyance so far is that Moghedian is pronounced differently between the two books (MOG-a-dean in Fires and mo-GIH-dee-an in Lord) Do I think the Wheel of Time series is the best thing I’ve ever read? No. But it’s entertaining enough, and still good to knit to. And it’s interesting to examine the feminist issues in the book and try to determine where the author actually stands on women. He certainly has some ideas!

 

It's been a year, and all I've read was almost half of the Wheel of Time series.

 Hello everyone,

It's been a while, and my life has completely changed.

I don't live as close to a beach as I used to! Instead, I live closer to a city I enjoy, my family, and a support network of friends. 

I fell short of my reading goal of 200 books last year. I got to 189 and the holidays got the better of me. Too often I think we've become afraid of failing, and this was an exercise in being unafraid of failure. Failing meant I still read 189 books, and that's pretty good. I'm still kinda proud of myself for taking so much time for reading. 

 

Since then, I've been working my way through the Wheel of Time series. Robert, the friend who got me into comic books last year, said that he read Wheel of Time in middle school and got through the 10th book and quit. The books are written by Robert Jordan (not the same Robert as the Robert who got me into comic books, obvs.) who has some weird ideas about women... but we'll get to that.

Wheel of Time is going to be an Amazon Prime series at some point, starring Rosamund Pike. The series has been lauded for its diverse cast (even though a lot of the principle characters are still white.) Also I'll argue that we can never have true diversity in our media and culture if we continue to pull from the same white male literary canon.

The book series is 14 books long and the titles are as follows:

1. Eye of the World
2. The Great Hunt
3. The Dragon Reborn
4. A Shadow Rising
5. Fires of Heaven
6. Lord of Chaos
7. A Crown of Swords (I am here)
8. The Path of Daggers
9. Winter's Heart
10. Crossroads of Twilight
11. Knife of Dreams
12. The Gathering Storm
13. Towers of Midnight
14. A Memory of Light

Jordan died partway through writing the series, so some of these books were written by a guy named Brandon Sanderson. I heard he was a major Wheel of Time stan and decided to take it upon himself to finish the series using Jordan's remaining notes, and with the blessing of Jordan's wife (who was also Jordan's editor).

Instead of reading the books with my eyeballs, I am listening to them on audiobook. Audiobooks are becoming my preferred method of consuming literature because I feel like I can absorb details a little better than when I read them, and I can do other things while listening. Normally I listen to audiobooks while taking a walk, but it's also nice to listen to a book while I'm driving or while I'm sitting in the evening and knitting. Michael Kramer and Kate Reading read ALL of the Wheel of Time, and they're absolute champs. Sometimes, there are long stretches where people stand around the room and Jordan describes what everyone is wearing, and I can sense a little impatience in Kramer's voice! I get impatient, too, during these parts, so it's fine.

The fourth book, A Shadow Rising, which is 41 hours long, got me through my big move. I listened to the longest stretch, about 8 hours straight, while driving through 7 states to my destination! Let me be real: These are not the most groundbreaking works of literature I've read, but there's something comforting about them. Jordan bases a lot of his concepts on various Asian myths and European legends (Arthurian legend is the most dominant.) He also draws a lot of inspiration from J.R.R. Tolkien, so much so that Eye of the World seems almost like a Fellowship of the Ring retelling. It quickly finds its own unique footing.

The main thing that makes these books unique is its gender-based magic system. The magic system also is the root of many of this series' problems. Men and women draw power from the "true source." Women take a power called Saidar, and men take Saidin. Women weave flows of magic using primarily water, air and spirit, while men use fire and earth. Jordan's world is a theoretical matriarchy, where an order of women in power, the Aes Sedai, use their power to guide world leaders. Saidin, the male half of the true source, has been tainted by the Dark One long ago, and any man who tries to channel the power eventually goes mad. If the women find men who can channel, they are automatically "gentled" (severed from the true source) for their own good.

One man who can channel, Rand al'Thor, becomes "The Dragon Reborn" a hero of legend reincarnated! He and his two friends, Mat and Perrin, are considered ta'veren, people who can influence those around them. There are three women who I would consider main characters as well: Egwene, a young women who is "strong in the power," Nynaeve, a young village wisdom who can only channel if she's angry, and Elayne, the daughter-heir of the kingdom of Andor. Wheel of Time was written mostly before Game of Thrones, so Jordan doesn't really kill off characters. The structure of his world almost doesn't allow it, as heroes can be "woven back into the pattern" from a world of dreams. Yeah, this book series is a little wild.

The other thing I'm doing, for myself, but also for Robert's entertainment (since he told me about this series) is I've been writing Wheel of Time letters and mailing them to Robert. If you have not yet taken up hand-writing and snail-mailing letters during a global pandemic, what are you even doing? Look, I know I'm not going to single-handedly save the US Postal Service from certain ruination at the hands of bad-faith actors, but I'm going to try! I got a bunch of stamps with fruit and flowers on them, and started hand-writing lengthy book reports about Fires of Heaven. Robert has been a good sport about it all, and he's written back twice when I've asked very important literary questions!

I've written other letters to other people, but I think I might publish some excerpts from the Wheel of Time letters here, when I get the chance. And if you want a letter from me, just ask! I'll write about almost anything. I mailed my best friend Kevin a recipe for peanut sauce the other day. Our communication with one another does not always need to be instantly gratifying!

So that's kind of the long version of what's been happening to me, through the lens of a 30+ year old book series. I hope the few people who happen across this blog in my corner of the internet have been kind to themselves during this trying time.